He's got the onset of a mild cold it seems. I plan to keep him away from crowded kid areas today and we'll do low-key activities. So far it's just some sneezing, a little sniffles and coughing, but these are the things that can quickly get out of control with his asthma.

We changed our paint colors for the upstairs rooms. "Honeydew" will work nicely in the loft/game room, "Afternoon" in Josh's room, and "Hyacinth" in the nursery. Southern Painting is scheduled for September 14th using Sherwin Williams paint. We decided to do vinyl wallies in Josh's room but still plan on having bees painted in the nursery.

My failed attempt to use the Elna 7000 sewing machine turned out to be not my fault (yay!). A couple days after I returned the borrowed machine, a former Chinese neighbor called to check on us since we moved. I asked if she had a sewing machine I could borrow but she insisted on making the curtains herself. "I make look good. You see." And she did! They are way better curtains than I probably would have made. She confidentially told Rusty "do not let Sarah have a sewing machine, ok?"

Rusty scored mega-cool points with dinner this evening. He made oh-so-yummy cod cakes (cod, potatoes, carrots, onions & stuff) that even Josh gobbled up. In fact, Josh ate more cod cake than peas and cheese. It helps that he also had tartar sauce (a new word for him) and cocktail sauce (another new word) on the side. Thanks super Dad! Tomorrow Josh will get to see his grandparents Anne & Russ (aka pop-pop) for dinner. We're making quiche, French onion soup & Caesar salads for everyone.

Emily stopped by for less than 24 hours with her family on Thursday night through Friday morning. They invited me to join them for a baseball game at the Ranger's stadium in Arlington (Kansas City Royals trounced the Rangers 6-2). Josh came with me while Rusty stayed behind with the onset of a mild cold. Friday morning we had breakfast at Ikea, went shopping at Fry's, picked up Emily's mother from the airport, then hung around the house until everyone had to go. By night, I was so exhausted from the extra activity and lack of Josh napping longer than an hour, I crashed by 8:30- nearly the same time as Josh.

Women are hypocrites: we title ourselves in ads and articles Wife, Mom and [insert professional title here]. Never do we see men labeling themselves as husbands and fathers prior to their work titles. Are women so busy juggling family life and work life that an extended title is needed? Don't fathers also juggle family life after a long day at work? Or perhaps we women are trying to connect to other moms that we're just like them. In addition to working, we too clean up after dinner, give the kids a bath, read stories at night and shuttle them to school or daycare each morning. Oh wait. Dads do these things too? Hmmm. Why do we get those extra titles? Are there that many dads out there who don't pull their weight at home? Or are we women holding on to an old fashion view of dads who leave all the domestic work to the women?

I had my midwife appointment this morning.I’m as healthy as could be expected: low blood pressure, no traces of protein or glucose, normal weight gain, healthy baby growth, no complications health-wise.My midwife is 90% certain the baby is breech at this point, but we’re not too worried as there is plenty of time for him to turn on his own before we get too far along.So!We have a low lying breech baby and an otherwise normal healthy pregnancy.

I met a mom-to-be the other day who reminded me that I am surrounded by supportive mothers whose beliefs are aligned like mine. I know several moms who are all for breastfeeding for as long as reasonable, or even possible. Moms who learned every detail about their pregnancies in order to make informed decisions. Moms who forged ahead against their doctor's wishes or even insurance company's wishes in order to obtain what was best for them or their baby. Moms who opted for alternatives to conventional wisdom and practices. The mom-to-be that I met was about as hands off as one could get. She did not feel the need to take a birth preparation class other than what the hospital offered (at or after 36 weeks), she was all for the epidural and painkillers, but didn't want a c-section unless it was really needed. Her doctor is concerned the baby may be too large in proportion to her body size (she's not petite and her belly isn't enormous at this point) so talks about considering a c-section have already come up. She plans to go back to work after 8 weeks maternity leave.

Scary thing is- she's so not alone. There are millions of other moms-to-be who are following closely to her path right now. They blindly go into labor and motherhood relying on doctor instruction and basic notions of the upcoming transition into being a mom. They don't question their doctor's advice and see no need for birthing classes since that's all taken care of by the hospital.

I'm not going to judge these women. They are following a system developed by the medical industry that is in place to relieve mothers of such stresses and worries. But I do have a different drum I beat to and enjoy the company of other moms who have their own drums as well. I am ever so grateful to be surrounded by the moms that I have befriended in the last 2 years. :-)

I made an Amazon.com wish list for the nursery. We finally have a theme and an idea for the currently empty room. yay! The brown walls will be painted a super light yellow to match a bumble bee theme, black furniture, and some day we'll have bees painted on the walls by Bella Designs. I can't wait to see the finished room! :) Josh is also getting an upgraded room decor to be a planes, trains and trucks theme.